Va-cation turned Medi-cation

I know that often people consider a missionary's furlough to be their "vacation", however for us it is still work with the added benefits of seeing family and friends and enjoying comforts like: clothes dryers, babysitters, baseball games, and an abundance of berries! For sure it is a welcomed change in scenery and a wonderful privilege to meet with supporters and share about what God has been doing in us and through our ministry over the past two years. So don't get me wrong, we love our working vacations! On a normal summer furlough for our family, we have most every weekend booked with traveling throughout Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and California, doing our best to connect with as many people as we can in a short window of time. 

When in Michigan our weekdays are initially full with wellness checkups, dental visits (in Indiana) and eye exams for the entire family.

Two trips to Indiana for dental work

During a season of good health for everyone that is a minimum of 15 doctor visits crammed into the front end of our summer. However, this summer gave resemblance to 2008 and 2012, with an exorbitant amount of medical visits.

In total we had 40 doctor visits in 90 days!

Instead of tracking miles traveled to churches, presentations given, different beds slept in and otherwise fun furlough facts, we were logging miles for doctor visits, time spent in waiting rooms, and hospital beds occupied. Thus our vacation turned "medi-cation."

ER Visit

Scope day!

Surgery

To recap our findings concerning Jonathan's health, this is what we learned:

• He does not have any major disease either autoimmune or otherwise that doctors were able to reveal.
• He does have an imbalance of gut flora, which probiotics and prebiotics are helping with.
• He is allergic to almonds and hazelnuts.
• He went through 2 rounds of parasitics to remove a micro-parasite in his gut and still unsure of its elimination since retesting is quite expensive.
• He had a deviated septum and inflamed turbinates that were restricting his breathing and was corrected with surgery in August.
• He does have 3 aortic aneurysms that will be monitored every 6 months to track growth.
• We are waiting on genetics testing results to see if there is an underlying condition giving reason for the development of aneurysms at such a young age.

Hospitals and waiting rooms everywhere in MI were beautiful and clean!

Since our return to Italy we have found and met already with a vascular surgeon which was a huge praise for us. We are waiting for a return call from a homeopathic doctor that will help investigate other allergies and give guidance with diet to hopefully resolve the ongoing gut issues. Our new chiropractor also immediately noted Jonathan's lack of wellness and will be conducting a more thorough exam this next week focusing on the whole body and not just manipulation of the spine.

Our bodies are very complex. Our health is so interconnected with our physical, emotional and spiritual states. It is like unwinding a knotted ball of fishing string. It takes time, patience, different angles and skilled fingers to pull and unravel the complexity of it all. Because the goal is not to indefinitely just mask the symptoms but to find the fundamental problems and fix them if possible. However, we realise too that maybe this is something God has given Jonathan to carry throughout his life and if so, we will trust in Him knowing that his plan is always best.

So many of our friends here in Italy had hard summers too with medical issues, hospitalizations, and loss of family members. Already we have had the chance to empathize, encourage and share of the hope and peace that is within us. Please pray for us as we continue to walk this path towards healing and restoration for Jonathan. We know the Great Physician can do anything!

Back to School (and blogging)

After a long and complicated summer full of unexpected twists and turns, I am finally back on the blog radar and plan to catch you up on our summer furlough in the USA.  There are stories and memories I want to remember so will be posting them as I have time over the coming weeks.

Where are we now?

Well, the Lord has graciously allowed us to return to our home in Italy. We arrived only 10 days ago and have been busy trying to get resettled as soon as possible.  The house always requires much attention after being closed up for three months. This time mould set up shop in our basement rooms, garage and even inside our vehicle. Yuck! So after putting clean linens on the beds and stocking the fridge that was first priority on the cleaning list.

Just five days prior to the start of school on September 12, we received notice that all the schools in Caselle would have reduced hours for the entire month. That means that Samuel and Emma are home at noon each day--a reduction of 10 hours per week. And Luca is done at 12:30--a reduction of 4 hours for his week.

Why, you may ask?

Let's just say it is WAY complicated and the Italians understand just enough to roll their eyes and shake their heads about the absurdity of the regulations every time I ask. Bottom line, there is a point system which determines a teacher's placement on a national level. The government then regulates where there is a need and places the teachers, kind of like the military. However, it seems the points were determined only the week before school started and therefore the government needs more time to organise themselves, making schools and students wait for teachers to relocate themselves to their new positions. There are new school reforms and regulations that were put into place by Renzi but logic and organisation are lacking. I don't understand. Please don't ask me questions. We are just happy for three weeks of half days!!

Here are my fantastic and brilliant children on their first day of school

Luca (5th), Emma (7th), Samuel (8th)

School is off to a good start even if slow. We are thankful that the kids have all maintained their primary teachers so will only see changes in their electives. This year will conclude the final chapter of our elementary school days. *Cue teardrops* Samuel will be our "guinea pig" as he will be the first to conclude the middle school years and brave the selection process of high school. *gulp*

Also new to Samuel's school calendar this year is an online course through The Potter's School. He is taking English 101 and began his class on Tuesday. It is a live class with both teacher and student interaction that meets once a week. He enjoyed his first class and even found the homework rather fun! Despite his insistence that he already knows English grammar, we think this will better prepare him for his future and he might just be surprised how much he actually will learn! After all, he wants to be a writer for goodness sake!